Weekly Currency Insights

US markets

The calm and the storm for Asia Pacific It’s been a hectic week already for currency markets, with the Pound, Euro and US Dollar all experiencing movement from economic and political influences domestically and from further afield.

Euro drops against key currency partners

Factory orders dropped in November for Germany, a key economy for the Eurozone, and this weakened the Euro slightly. The Euro fell against its main currency partners despite all the mostly positive data that came out of the Eurozone; such as EU retail sales going up 1.5% and industrial production rising 3.4% versus a forecast of 1.8%.

Meanwhile, the Pound is having a moment of strength, thanks to some good economic news. UK manufacturing performance has once again helped boost the UK economy, with the latest Manufacturing and Production figures coming in above forecasts and providing further positivity for the Pound. The latest National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures show that the UK economy has grown by 1.8 percent in 2017, with the last quarter of 2017 showing a big improvement and heralding the best growth forecast for a year. Economic growth received a boost in the latter part of 2017 from the manufacturing and service sectors, a weaker Sterling and economic positivity and appetite globally. This bodes well for further economic recovery in 2018.

The construction sector remains the UK industry sector that is struggling the most and lagging behind from a growth perspective. Much of this has been as a result of Brexit uncertainty and wider economic concerns, causing construction companies to put plans and funding on hold, reigning in spending and stalling new projects.

Sterling is still strong against the US Dollar, hovering around 1.35 at the time of writing. However, the Pound is always a small step away from significant volatility in the current climate, as Brexit negotiations continue and the UK government makes big changes. While markets may have found some confidence from the development that the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, seems to be keeping the status quo when it comes to her most senior ministers, any change to government creates further uncertainty in an economy that already has its fair share of hurdles to overcome.